A Republican Congressman who began an ad campaign on Saturday, in which he apologized for not doing more to probe inappropriate relationships former Rep. Mark Foley had cultivated with male teens in the congressional page program, cancelled a scheduled appearance on a Sunday morning talk show, RAW STORY has learned.

"Rep. Thomas Reynolds, who heads the House Republicans' re-election effort, would have been the chamber's top GOP official on the Sunday talk shows," reports the Associated Press. "Booked weeks ago for ABC's This Week, he confirmed his appearance on Wednesday."

But on Saturday, Reynolds' office "canceled without explanation and arranged for a substitute guest, Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Fla.," an ABC spokeswoman told the Associated Press.

A RAW STORY article on Putnam's appearance, in which he argued that House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office acted "pro-actively" and "aggressively" can be read at this link.

Excerpts from A.P. article:

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A Reynolds spokesman said the New York congressman had flu-like symptoms. Reynolds, whose district covers an economically distressed stretch of New York between the suburbs of Buffalo and Rochester, is now trailing his Democratic opponent, Jack Davis, by a 48-33 percent margin, according to a poll conducted by Zogby International for The Buffalo News.

Reynolds has been criticized by Democrats who say he did too little to protect a page from Foley, the Florida Republican who resigned Sept. 29 after the disclosure of his sexually explicit electronic messages to teenage former male pages. The scandal has ignited what has become a political firestorm before the Nov. 7 election.

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On the day after Foley resigned, Reynolds said he had told Hastert months ago about concerns that Foley had sent inappropriate messages after Reynolds became aware of them last spring.

Hastert since has insisted he was not aware of the charges until more recently. Reynolds, meanwhile, now says he cannot remember exactly when he learned of Foley's e-mails or when he told Hastert about them.